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What does this even mean? What is the dharma? How do you do it? How does it do you? Mary reflects on this idea and how the practice, dedication to the teachings and the development of insight allow the dharma to work you.
Recorded April 23, 2022 in the virtual worldSend me a text with any questions or comments!
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Most of us are familiar with the traditional way the Brahma Viharas, or heart practices, are taught. However the usual phrases and categories of people we offer loving kindness, compassion, and joy to are first seen in the commentaries, not in the earlier suttas, or discourses. There, the Buddha offers a different way to embody these beautiful qualities and in this talk Mary discusses these teachings and how they can enrich our lives.
Recorded on April 9, 2022 in the virtual world.Send me a text with any questions or comments!
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The 4th Precept is about being wise and careful not only with our speech, but with all our communications. In this day and age of instant connection it's especially imperative that we bring awareness and kindness to our interactions with others. Mary discusses the Buddha's teachings on this and applies them to our modern experience.
Recorded March 27, 2022 in the virtual worldSend me a text with any questions or comments!
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The 2nd Precept is not to take what is not freely offered and the 3rd is to avoid sexual misconduct. In these teachings and admonitions, the Buddha was able to touch into behaviors that cause so much harm and suffering in our world. Mary discusses the broad invitation of these precepts and how to use them to move into a practice of generosity, honesty and equanimity.
Recorded March 19, 2022 in the virtual worldSend me a text with any questions or comments!
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FROM THE ARCHIVES: This talk, recorded almost five years ago, is still timely today. How do we deal the the excruciating moments that can happen in our lives? How do we deal with grief, loss, fear and so on with compassion and equanimity?
Recorded Sept. 2, 2017 in Los Angeles, CASend me a text with any questions or comments!
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Starting with this talk Mary will look at the Five Training Precepts. The Precepts are the Buddha's advice to lay people on how to live in harmony with the world. The first one asks us to not take a life intentionally, or cause harm. Implicit in this is an invitation to live a kind and compassionate life.
Recorded March 6, 2022 in the virtual worldSend me a text with any questions or comments!
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With a nod to Jack Kornfield's book of the same name, Mary discusses the luminous quality of the mind before it is dulled by all of our attachments. Wisdom is training the mind to wake up to be fully present to reality. This clarity allows for the blossoming of a kind and compassionate heart.
Recorded Feb 19, 2022 in the virtual worldSend me a text with any questions or comments!
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One more time the moments we're living through are extremely turbulent and it can be easy to be overcome with emotions. The practice the Buddha offered us is a way to be with the world it its ugliness and its beauty without being taken over. Mary discusses how to tend to the emotions that are present and to meet he world with kindness and compassion.
Recorded Feb 26, 2022 in the virtual worldSend me a text with any questions or comments!
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Don Givens speaks on the topic of Impermanence. This is the fundamental principle behind the Buddha's teachings: that everything changes. Our practice is aimed at embracing change as a way to reduce suffering in our lives. Enjoy!
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To cling is to suffer and when we can fully let go, there is freedom. That freedom is the clarity to truly see reality without being hindered by our conditioning - whatever that is. In this talk Mary discusses the effort and patience needed to let go and also how to recognize the clarity we already have.
Recorded Dec 30, 2021 in the virtual worldSend me a text with any questions or comments!
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Whether we like it or not, impermanence is a way of life. In fact the Buddha taught that it was one of the three characteristics of existence yet we still try to hold on to things, ideas, and experiences even after they've ended. In this talk Mary discusses the subtle ways we struggle with this truth and how to recognize it and to learn to let go.
Recorded Oct. 16, 2021 in the virtual worldSend me a text with any questions or comments!
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Connection with others and with ourselves is such an important part of our lives, as vital as food and shelter. Yet, we are so often blocked from true connection without understanding why. In this talk, recorded at the Annual Women's Retreat, Mary invites us to reflect on what disconnects us and how to reconnect.
Recorded Jan. 17, 2022 in the virtual worldSend me a text with any questions or comments!
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The concept of samvega in Buddhism means that we come face to face with the realization that often we're stuck in attachment and aversion and ignorant of the true nature of existence. It can be a shocking wake-up call, but if we are willing to embrace the truth of impermanence and cultivate a kind and loving heart it will lead to clarity and confidence as we move through our lives.
Recorded Feb 12, 2022 in the virtual worldSend me a text with any questions or comments!
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Often we latch on to the search for meaning, happiness or bliss and think they are "out there" waiting to be found or achieved. Drawing heavily on the work of Viktor Frankl, Mary reminds us that there is only this moment and we are asked to respond appropriately to each experience we encounter. Building a foundation of love, kindness and integrity allows us to respond wisely and for the benefit of all.
Recorded Sept. 18, 2021 in the virtual worldSend me a text with any questions or comments!
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We experience difficulties simply as a result of being a human being, and then there is the extra level of difficulty we create for ourselves when we get caught up in craving and aversion. The Buddha described this as shooting ourselves with a second arrow. This talk investigates how we avoid that extra level of suffering or discomfort.
Originally recorded at Against the Stream in Los Angeles on Nov. 11, 2017Send me a text with any questions or comments!
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When we get overwhelmed or caught up in all the things going on in our lives, the Buddhist teaching of papañca, or proliferation of thought, is a wonderful way to bring ourselves back to the present. It's extraordinary how we carry so much around, yet most of it is simply in our minds and if we make the effort to let go, there will be a spaciousness that allows us to work with each moment as it comes - not everything all at once.
Recorded Feb. 5, 2022 in the virtual worldSend me a text with any questions or comments!
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The great Vietnamese Zen teacher Thích Nhất Hạnh died on Jan 22. In this talk, Mary reflects on some of his teachings which had the most impact on her: Engaged Buddhism, Seeds of Consciousness, and Death. Deep bows of gratitude to Thay.
Recorded Jan. 29, 2022 in the virtual worldSend me a text with any questions or comments!
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Gil Fronsdal has said that the perfection of wisdom is when the mind and heart neither cling to nor resist anything. Mary discusses this idea and the importance of both mindfulness and the heart practices to cultivate this wisdom. We need both to be in balance and equanimity. We greet the world with clarity and kindness.
Recorded Jan. 22, 2022 in the virtual worldSend me a text with any questions or comments!
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One of the most accessible teachings on equanimity is the Eight Worldly Winds. These are experiences that are common to all humans: pleasure & pain, gain & loss, praise & blame, fame & disgrace. If we're not paying attention we can get caught in this whirlwind of chasing the pleasant and rebelling against the unpleasant. The Buddha's insight is that these experiences arise for each of us and the invitation is to neither grasp nor repel. How do we sit with ease with these eight winds as they come and they go?
Recorded Nov. 6, 2021 in the virtual worldSend me a text with any questions or comments!
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As we start the new year, we're often lost in thoughts of what's to come, plans and resolutions, or we're stuck in memories of things past. However, there is only right now and much of what ensnares us is simply stories of the mind. In this talk Mary discusses how to bring ourselves back to where we are and to find a place of ease and being openhearted in this moment.
Recorded 1/9/2022 in the virtual world.Send me a text with any questions or comments!
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